Timothy g



(No Model.)

T. G. PALMER. TORPBDO RAILWAY SIGNAL.

Patented Jan. 13,1885

lUNrrnn STATES PATENT rrrca TIMOTHY G. PALMER, OF SOHULTZVILLE, NEXV YORK.

TORPEDO RAILWAY SlGNAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 310,717, dated January 13, 1885.

Application filed January 21, 1884. (N model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, TIMOTHY G. PALMER, of Schultzville, in the county of Dutohess and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Torpedo Railway-Signals, of which the following is a specification.

' This danger-signal is intended to be used 011 railways to indicate at the main track when a switch is opened to a siding or branch,and it is designed to work automatically, so that it receives motion from the mechanism that moves the switch, in order that simultaneously with the opening of the siding, switch, or other source of danger the torpedo may be brought into position to be exploded, and is removed from that position when there is no longer any danger. It is to be understood that the torpedo-signal is to be placed at a sufficient distance from the switch to allow the train to be stopped before reaching the open switch or other danger. I make use of an anvil, an exploder above the same,to be acted upon when elevated by the passing wheels, a torpedo magazine or holder, and a slide that receivesv the torpedo and moves it back and forth each time the slide is moved by its connection to the switch, and a cam-lever between the slide and the exploder to raise the latter and prevent it interfering with the torpedo when being moved back and forth. The torpedo-holder is below the level of the track, so as not to be injured by any passing device, such as a cowcatcher or snow-plow.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a central ver tical section longitudinally of the slide. Fig. 2 is a plan of the apparatus. Fig. 8 is an inverted plan of the cover. Fig. 4 is a cross section through the anvil at the line y y, the eXploder being in elevation. Fig. 5 is a vertical section at the line at at, showing the camlever to the exploder; and Fig. 6 is a separate plan view of the forked end of the slide.

The base a is provided with an anvil, b, at one end, and above this base is a movable cap, 0. The baseis to be suitably supported and at tahhed to the rail. I prefer to use the clipplate d,that passes under the rail f and has alip, d, that hooks over the flange of the rail, and the parts are held together by bolts k, that pass through lugs upon the cap and base and through the clip-plate.

In the base a there is a tubular torpedo magazine or holder, 75, extending down any desired distance, so as to hold the required number of torpedoes, and to be entirely out of the way of snow-plows or cow-catchers; hence said holder can be comparatively close to the rail, and the torpedo has to be moved but little distance from the holder to the anvil b. WVithinthis holder there is a spring, 9, that tends to lift the torpedoes,and there is an opening through the cap 0 provided with a removable flanged plug, 1, that is held down by a screw-thread or bayonet-lock pins, so as to be removable for the insertion of the torpedoes. The flange of the plug prevents water passing in around the plug, and thespring 9 should be limited in its upward movement, so as not to interfere with the slide, hereinafter described, when the torpedoes are exhausted from the holder. This may be accomplished by the end of the spring passing off laterally into a vertical groove in the inside of the torpedo-holder, the upper end of such groove being closed to form a stop to the end of the spring. The slide on is introduced between the base a and the cap 0 into a space provided for it,wherein it is free to be moved endwise by the rod 02, that is at the back end, andis connected to the switch mechanism or other device for moving the torpedo automatically. At the forward end there is an opening, 19, adapted to receive the torpedo i, and the end is forked and undercut at the edges, as shown, and the anvil is comparatively narrow. This slide receives into the opening 1) a torpedo, t, and moves it back and forth every time the slide is moved; but if the torpedo is fired by the exploder 1 being forced down upon it, the parts of the torpedo-case are separated and escape downwardly and sidewise at the sides of the anvil and below the beveled forked end of the slide, so that the slide is drawn back empty and ready to receive another torpedo when the opening in the slide arrives at the magazine. The exploder r is in the form of aplug passing through a hole in the cap 0, and provided with a head and rim to prevent Water running down the sides of the exploder, and this eXploder has to be raised so that the torpedo can pass back and forth under it, but the top of the exploder is sufficiently high above the rails when the torpedo is beneath it to be forced down by the passing locomotive or car wheels and explode the torpedo. \Vhen the torpedo is not beneath the exploder, the latter should be lowered down, so as to be out of the way of the wheels.

A convenient device for raising and lowering the exploder is the forked levers 0 let into grooves or recesses in the under side of the cap a, and acting against a cross-pin, t, in the eXploder. The cam projections 8, upon the levers 0, enter recesses in the surface of the slide when the latter is fully moved toward the rail, so that the levers olie upon the slide m and the eXploder is free to be forced down; but as the slide draws back it underruns the cams 8 upon the levers 0, and raises such levers and holds up the levers and the exploder.

At the ends of the slide we there are ca1n-su1'- faces 8, that act upon the cams s to raise the levers 0, and the exploder when the torpedo is being moved under the exploder. At the extreme movement backwardly of the slide at the exploder rests upon the anvil. hen the slide m is moved forward toward the rail, the ,exploder is first lifted by the inclines s sufficiently for the cartridge to be pressed in beneath it.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination, in a danger-signal, of an anvil upon which the torpedo can be exploded, a slide to move the torpedo, an exploder, a cap for holding the sa1ne,and a camlever acted upon by the slide for raising the exploder before passing the torpedo under it, substantially as specified.

2. The combination, in a danger-signal, of a slide connected with a switch or other moving device, a torpedo-holder placed below the slide and below the level of the track, an anvil, an exploder, a cap to hold the exploder and to cover the slide, and a lever or cam between the slide and the exploder to raise the exploder before passing the torpedo beneath it, substantially as specified.

3. The slide receiving an endwise movement and having a jaw for receiving the torpedo, in combination with an anvilupon which the torpedo rests, an explode-r, a lever receiving its motion from the slide and by which the exploder is raised or lowered, and a cap covering the slide, substantially as specified.

4. The O0lI1bl1JZttlOll,Wltll an anvil, of a torpedo-inaga-zine below the anvil, a spring to raise the torpedoes, a slide for receiving such torpedoes, an exploder, a cap covering the slide and provided with an opening for the insertion of the torpedoes,and aeover for such opening, substantially as specified.

Signed by me this 11th day of January, A. D. 1884.

T. G. PALMER.

Vitnesses:

Gno. T. PINCKNEY, \VILLIAM G. MoTT. 

